Dalton Risner returns to Vikings practice; Sam Darnold can’t win one regular-season award

While most of the attention has been on tight end T.J. Hockenson returning to practice, the Vikings got another piece of the offense, guard Dalton Risner, back on Monday.

Risner, who started 11 games at left guard last season, returned to practice on Monday, when coach Kevin O’Connell held a light session at team headquarters in Eagan coming out of the bye week. Risner, 29, has been sidelined since early August because of a back injury suffered in training camp.

“Something that took me longer than I wanted,” Risner said after Monday’s practice. “I feel 100 percent, ready to roll.”

Risner rejoined the Vikings on a one-year deal in late May, when O’Connell talked about Risner joining a “competitive situation” at left guard. But by training camp, Risner was just as focused on practicing right guard, where he could now potentially replace struggling starter Ed Ingram at some point.

Risner first has to show coaches he is back in playing shape after being sidelined for over two months. The Vikings have a three-week practice window before needing to activate or shelve Risner for the season.

“I’m in football shape,” Risner said. “I’ve been ready. ... This isn’t the first day I’ve been healthy. So, I’m ready to roll. Grateful to be out there practicing.”

Ingram, a 2022 second-round pick out of Louisiana State, has allowed a team-worst 17 pressures in pass protection, according to Pro Football Focus, after ranking as one of the NFL’s worst pass-blocking guards during his first two seasons.

Risner, a four-year starter for the Broncos, might need time to get up to speed. But he has played 4,518 snaps during his NFL career, giving the Vikings another option if Ingram continues to struggle. However, all of Risner’s snaps have come at left guard. Coaches have mostly praised left guard Blake Brandel, who replaced Risner this offseason, and likely wouldn’t move him to free up Risner’s old spot.

“I’m comfortable at right and left,” Risner said. “Whatever position they want me to play.”

Running back Aaron Jones also practiced after leaving the Oct. 6 win over the Jets with a hip injury. O’Connell was noncommittal last week on Jones’ availability for Sunday vs. the Lions.

Linebacker Blake Cashman did not practice during Monday’s abbreviated, hourlong session without pads. Cashman worked with a member of the team’s training staff on a side field. He had his right calf wrapped. The former Eden Prairie and Gophers linebacker has started every game and played 297 snaps on defense and special teams, trailing only safety Josh Metellus for the team lead.

Quarterback Sam Darnold is eligible for regular-season awards such as Offensive Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player, but he cannot be named Comeback Player of the Year by the Associated Press.

AP sportswriter Rob Maaddi explained on social media, writing AP voters were told before the season that the award’s intentions are to recognize a player “who has demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity by overcoming illness, physical injury or other circumstances that led him to miss playing time the previous season.”

Darnold is off to the best start of his seven-year, four-team NFL career, throwing for multiple touchdown passes in a career-best four consecutive games. His 8.1 yards per throw trail only four quarterbacks with at least 100 attempts this season: Detroit’s Jared Goff, San Francisco’s Brock Purdy, Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and Washington’s Jayden Daniels.

Vikings cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. is especially eager for Sunday’s game against the Lions. Murphy missed three games last year due to a late-season MCL sprain; two of those games were the Vikings’ losses against the Lions in Week 16 and Week 18. Murphy, who signed a two-year deal with the Vikings in March 2023, has yet to face Detroit with Minnesota.

“Obviously a little more of a chip on my shoulders just because of last year,” Murphy said. “I had to stand on the sideline, wasn’t able to play. I just know this game means a lot.”

Murphy said this year’s Vikings defense, which ranks third allowing 15.2 points per game, has grown a lot from when they faced the Lions a year ago. He pointed to the film of their last victory against Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who had a 54% completion rate on 54 passes on Oct. 6 in London.

“He’s seen so many coverages,” Murphy said. “He was obviously calling some stuff out. But some of the stuff he was calling out was wrong, because a play looks like this, but we dropped into something else.”

The Vikings re-signed defensive lineman Jalen Redmond to the practice squad on Monday after waiving the second-year defender on Friday. The team has not yet made a corresponding move. Redmond, 25, has appeared in two games this season. He had a sack in the Sept. 22 victory over the Texans.